Carbon Credit Preserves the Profit from Trees

Landowners can now profit from their trees without cutting them down. Carbon credits pay property owners cash to preserve their trees and benefit the environment.

The United States government is paying landowners in places like Oregon $1,000 to preserve trees to be used as carbon sinks. Carbon sinks are groves of trees that absorb carbon from the air in an attempt to offset and prevent global warming.

A typical beneficiary of the program is Oregon property owner Paul Nys, who will be paid $1,000 a year not to cut down his trees. Nys used to supplement his income by selling trees for lumber. Now he receives cash for preserving the forest on his 200-acre property every year.

The carbon credits are offered through the American Carbon Registry benefit industry. Companies that pollute buy the credits to offset the pollution they are responsible for. The idea is that the carbon dioxide the trees absorb will make up for the companies’ pollutions. One of the companies that buys Nys’ carbon credits is a railroad operator that runs trains through deforested areas.